Silent Run - Barbara Freethy [36]
“That’s it? That’s all you’ve got?” Jake asked, frustration in his voice.
“It’s something, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you’ve just decided to play me in a different way.”
She sat back in the seat and crossed her arms as she stared out the front window. “What does that mean?”
“It means don’t try to flirt with me,” he warned. “Don’t try to remind me that we once had something. That’s over. Got it? You have no power over me whatsoever. Look at me, Sarah.”
She really didn’t want to, but there was no refusing the command in his voice.
“I don’t want you anymore,” he said bluntly, anger burning in his eyes. “I don’t care about you at all. I just care about finding my daughter.”
“I get it.”
“You’d better.” He turned his head, staring straight ahead now. “The attraction is gone. You’re not going to seduce me into forgetting what you did to me, so don’t even try. I’m in charge now. I’m calling the shots.”
“Then why can’t you look at me?” she asked. He’d wanted this moment between them. In fact, he’d demanded it. Yet, now that it was here, he couldn’t look her in the eye. Was he afraid of what he might reveal?
“Because I can’t stand the sight of you,” he replied.
Was that the truth? Or was he trying to cover up the fact that his feelings about her were nowhere near as clear as he’d just stated? She sensed that he was far more conflicted than he was willing to let on.
Turning the key, Jake gunned the engine and pulled out of the parking spot with a squeal of tires.
She grabbed onto the armrest to steady herself. “I can see that you’re in complete control,” she said sharply. “Would you slow down?”
“I’m in a hurry to find my daughter. Then the two of us will be done.”
They wouldn’t be done; they’d just be beginning. Because there was no way she would let him walk away with Caitlyn without a fight. She knew she had a good reason for taking their child. She just had to remember what it was.
Jake slowed down as they passed through the small downtown area of Los Olivos, where a large banner on Main Street announced an upcoming wine festival. As they left town, heading toward the mountains that would eventually take them to the coast, the landscape grew more rural. They passed vineyards, olive groves, horse farms, and even a few celebrity ranches. The scenery was lush and calm, sunshine bathing the rolling hills in a peaceful light. It was hard to believe that just two nights ago she’d been running for her life on these very roads. Actually, according to Deputy Manning, she’d been driving in from the coast, so maybe there was no reason why she’d recognize the scenery. She’d gotten into her accident long before she’d reached this stretch of road.
As they turned off the main highway onto a much less traveled route, Sarah’s tension began to grow. The road began to climb, winding through the mountains, the area becoming more desolate. The canyons off to the side were dark and deep.
“The accident scene is just up there,” Jake said, consulting the notes he’d jotted down earlier. “Dylan said that coming from this direction there’s a turnout about a quarter mile after the point where your car went over the side. We can park there.”
Sarah didn’t bother to reply. Her gaze was focused on the fluttering strip of yellow danger tape that clung to the edges of the smashed guardrail on her side of the road. From what everyone had told her, she’d been coming from the other direction. She’d taken the turn too fast, crossed the highway, and gone over the side, narrowly missing a car coming from the direction she was currently traveling.
Jake slowed down as they drove by the spot where her car had plunged off the side of the cliff. It was a steep descent down to